Duck call



Nov. 22, 1949 G. L. TIERCE 2,488,838

DUCK CALL Filed Jan. 15, 1949 /&

g0 M /9 g j 5 5 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DUCK CALL Gilbert L. Tierce, Shreveport, La. 7 Application January 13, 1949, Serial No. 70,719

3 Claims.

My invention relates to duck calls and has for its main object the provision of an instrument which, when blown, will simulate the call of a group of ducks and emitting the sounds in various frequencies simultaneously.

Another object of the invention is to provide a duck call wherein the pitch of each of the sounds produced thereby may be varied at the will of the operator to'facilitate the imitation of ducks while feeding, mating, or any of the calls an operator might believe'attractive to ducks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a duck call that is easy to manufacture and operate, that contains a minimum number of component parts and which can be mastered by a novice tosimulate the sound of ducks. M

, My invention consists briefly in a two-piece housing, one end of which might be considered as the mouthpiece and the other end a sound box. Arranged within a common bore is a multiplicity of adjustable reeds responding to air blown through the mouthpiece and vibrating at pitches of any desired frequency.

A clearer understanding of the invention will be had by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of my invention in a duck call.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, longitudinal, sectional view.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of a reed mandrel used in the invention.

Fig. 5 is an isometric view of a reed for the mandrel and Fig. 6 is an isometric view of a wedge block used in positioning the mandrel.

In Fig. 1 the duck call is shown as being cigarshaped on its exterior, the forward end of the mouthpiece l0 and the rear end of the sound box If being tapered in tear-drop fashion.

In Fig. 2 the sound box II is shown with its inner end l2 turned to a smaller diameter which slidably receives the inner bore of the mouthpiece 10. The inner end of the sound box ll isprovided with a counterbore which forms a shoulder l3 which acts as a depth stop for the reed positioning blocks M.

The reed mandrel I5 is square-shaped in construction as shown in Fig. 4 with grooves l6 cut on each face thereof. It will be noted that the inner end of the mandrel I5 is substantially square and extends for a length approximating the length of the reed positioning blocks [4, from 55 2 which point each face thereof is tapered with th smaller end terminating just short of the opening at the extremity of the mouthpiece Ill.

The reeds I! in this instance, are made of hard 8 rubber, relatively thin, and slightly less in width thanthe width of the reed mandrel l5. While not absolutely necessary, actual tests have shown that the reed I! should be perfectly fiat with all sharp corners removed and with the forwarder top portion 20. The curved top portion 20 of the reed positioning blocks are of such a radius as to correspond to the radius of the inner counterbore:

of the sound box H so that when the mandrel assembly is put into operative position in the sound box I I, it will fit snugly without the use of threaded members-or set, screws. 1 r In assembling the device, the reeds are placed over the air grooves IE on the reed mandrel l5 and a reed positioning block I4 is placed over each reed. This assembly is placed into the counterbored end of the sound box II and the reeds are ready for adjustment. This adjustment is made bypositioning the forward ends 18 of the reeds IT at varying distances from the nearest end of its positioning block M. It will be remembered that the forward end I8 of each reed 11 must extend slightly beyond the end of its corresponding air groove l6.

When air is blown through the mouthpiece opening Zl' it is forced into the open space between the reeds l1 and the top surface of the l mandrel l5, where it enters the air grooves and is exhausted through the sound box I I. Air, thus blown, will cause the reeds to vibrate against the mandrel to simulatethe sound of ducks. Each reed may be tuned separately so that the frequency of each is different enough from the other so that when all are sounded simultaneously the result will be an imitation of a group of ducks rather than the prior art type which produces only a single sound imitation.

After the reeds have been set to the desired frequencies by the operator, the mouthpiece is left in its mounting position as shown in Fig. 2 and the device is ready for use.

For best results in the construction of a device according to the teachings of the invention, all parts except the reeds are made of wood. Preference is given to light mahogany for the mouthpiece and sound box I 0 and red cedar for the reed mandrel l5 and the reed positioning blocks l4. It has been found that these woods finish well,

have good resonant qualities and are able to withstand dampness and rain which usually accompanies duck seasons.

While I have described my invention in detail in the particular embodiment shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that this has been by way of example only, and that various changes in the number of reeds might be made or the mandrel changed to a round structure. Other modifications might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A duck call comprising a hollow body men-1 her, a multi-faced mandrel mounted within said body member, means for mounting a reed on each face of said multi-fac'edimandrel'in-a'mam' ner to permit a portion of its length to vibrate against said mandrel to simulate the sound of a plurality of ducks when air is blown through said nollow 'bo'd'y member consisting in a; plurality of Wedge blocks' adapted to wedge an end portion ofeach of said reeds' again'st a faceof said-multifaced mandr'el a'nd the' inner wallsurface of said hollow body member' an'd means for adjusting the vibrating frequency of each reed with respect tothe' otlier.

2. A ducli call 'comprisinga tubular, two piece memberconsisting in a sound boxand a mouthpiece, a four sided mandrel-adapted for mounting in said so'und'bo'x, said mandrel being extended uniformly square-shaped for-"a ortion of 'itslength with' each fa'ce thereof tapered downwarxlly toward the" longitudinal axis for the: remaining portion" thereof; each face of said mandrel provided with a groove, a reed for each face of said man'drel" adapted to be positionedwer tliigroovecut thereon; a wedge block for each reed, each of said weu'g'eblucks navin' anat multiplicity of ducks when air is blown through said mouthpiece. v r 4 3. A duck callc'omprisinga tubular sound box having a counterbore in one end, a tubular mouthpiece adapted for mounting on said sound box in a manner to provide a common bore through the same and said sound box, a multifaced mandrel adapted for mounting in said sound boir', a plurality of reeds for said mandrel, a plurality of wedge blocks, each of said wedge blocks adapted to be positioned over one of said reeds-to Wedge the same against one of the faces of said mandrel and the inside Wall surface of saidicounterbore; a groove -f'o'rni'eu upona'portion of 'each face of said mandrel to perniit air to be exhausted through: said sound box and means for-adjusting said reeds in variableirelative dis'-' tances from saidwedgdblocks' to permit said reads to vibrate simultan'e'ously; at" varied frequencies when 1 air is blown through" said" mouth-' pieces 'GHQBERT L; 'TIER'CE:

REFERENGE S GITED The following referencesar'e offrhor'cl in the file of this patent STATES PATEHVIS" 

